Thursday 1 May 2014
In order to gain the knowledge of my audience whilst planning my music video I produced two seperate peices of audience feedback. Firstly I got together with three other media students in order to produce a focus group. Within this focus group I would ask them any relevant questions and record their response. The second piece of audience feedback I created was a poll which is situated on the side of my blog. Below, the results of both sets of audience feedback and what I learned from them can be seen:
The first important knowledge I gained from this feedback was that narrative was pretty unanimously the favoured media concept for music videos. The fact all three taking part in the focus group mentioned narrative when asked for their favoured concept show it's popularity for this technique amongst an alternative rock audience. As well as this the poll also confirmed the superiority of the narrative approach with 5 out of 7 tick 'Narrative' when asked for their favoured concept. It was intresting to note that Chloe (a focus group member) stated a narrative is important as it a allows the audience to understand the lyrics by creating a story. I took all of this advice on board and made my video largely narrative and created a story based on my own interpretation of the song lyrics. However, I also noticed within the focus group that a mix of performance and narrative is also enjoyed with 2 of the 3 claiming they like this approach. This knowledge, coupled with the fact the remainind 2 poll voters opted for 'Performance' was another for me to also include an element of performance within my final prduct. This mix of the two also allowed me to stick with the typical conventions of alternative rock video which largely use a mix of narrative and performance.
This leads me onto the second key information I gathered from the audience feedback. Within my focus group I asked whether they prefer a music video which follows or breaks conventions. Here I gained another unanimous answer in favour of following conventions. Ford (another member of the focus group) stated breaking conventions i good if the intention is to make a humorous video, however following conventions is the best way to offer a serious effect. This was key advice which I took on board. The fact I wanted to create a narrative based on serious topics such as alcoholism and suicide meant the best option for me would be to follow as many conventions as I can
The first important knowledge I gained from this feedback was that narrative was pretty unanimously the favoured media concept for music videos. The fact all three taking part in the focus group mentioned narrative when asked for their favoured concept show it's popularity for this technique amongst an alternative rock audience. As well as this the poll also confirmed the superiority of the narrative approach with 5 out of 7 tick 'Narrative' when asked for their favoured concept. It was intresting to note that Chloe (a focus group member) stated a narrative is important as it a allows the audience to understand the lyrics by creating a story. I took all of this advice on board and made my video largely narrative and created a story based on my own interpretation of the song lyrics. However, I also noticed within the focus group that a mix of performance and narrative is also enjoyed with 2 of the 3 claiming they like this approach. This knowledge, coupled with the fact the remainind 2 poll voters opted for 'Performance' was another for me to also include an element of performance within my final prduct. This mix of the two also allowed me to stick with the typical conventions of alternative rock video which largely use a mix of narrative and performance.
This leads me onto the second key information I gathered from the audience feedback. Within my focus group I asked whether they prefer a music video which follows or breaks conventions. Here I gained another unanimous answer in favour of following conventions. Ford (another member of the focus group) stated breaking conventions i good if the intention is to make a humorous video, however following conventions is the best way to offer a serious effect. This was key advice which I took on board. The fact I wanted to create a narrative based on serious topics such as alcoholism and suicide meant the best option for me would be to follow as many conventions as I can
Wednesday 30 April 2014
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
I have used a wide range of media technologies throughout the whole progress of the A2 coursework. The first media technology which I used was blogger. Blogger is a website which enables anybody to create their own blogs which can then be followed by any person visiting the website. It is a site I used to store my coursework in AS level and because of it's easy to use/access nature I have continued to do so with my A2 Coursework. Each peice of work, from the research and planning to the actual creation of my media products has it's own individual post upon my page so it's east to find and is well organised.
When planning for my media products I was required to produce a lot of research into existing products within the alternative rock genre. Making this job a lot more simple for me was YouTube. The popular video sharing website, established in 2005, holds billions of vids free to view. From comedy to sports, YouTube caters for all and importantly for me it is the home to thousands of music videos. By searching bands well known alternative rock bands such as Arctic Monkeys and Fall Out Boy I was able to gather a solid list of conventions for music videos belonging to my genre therefore helping me to create a video which reflects a real life product. As well as this YouTube was also the platform I used to release my final music video to the world when I was happy with what I had.
Moving on to the actual creation of my media products, starting with my music video. The first technology I needed when creating a music video was a camera. My weapon of choice was the Sony Handy Cam which I borrowed from the College media department. Despite the camera boasting an 8.9 megapixel camera it was pretty basic on the interface and therefore really easy to use for first time users, like myself. A key function it did have was the ability to allow me to watch back the footage as soon as I'd filmed it. With this option available it made it a lot easier when it came to deciding whether to re-shoot certain shots whilst we was on location rather then having to leave and discover a shot required a re-shoot when we uploaded the footage onto a computer. As well as this, it's portability and small size also came as a positive as it was easy to carry around on long shooting days. Along with the digital camera I also borrowed an attachable tripod. With the tripod it opened up more options in terms of shot types allowing me to work with still shots and pan shots.
Sticking with the creation of my music video and another media technology which proved crucial was the Adobe Premierpro CS6 program which was available via college editing suites. Initially Premierpro was a whole new program I had never used before and so I struggled to make full use of it's abilities. However after being fortunate enough to gain some advice from one of the college experts I managed to get into a situation were I was really confident using the program to edit. Infact, on my final music video, I actually included advanced edits such are the stobe light effect, a rewind montage and a blurred vision edit to give the effect the character was intoxicated.
Moving onwards to the creation of my digipak and promo poster and we are introduced to another key Adobe media technology, this time Photoshop. Photoshop was an absolutely crucial program for the creation of both producs and, unlike Premierpro, I had previous experience in AS level and so was much more confident to act independently.
When planning for my media products I was required to produce a lot of research into existing products within the alternative rock genre. Making this job a lot more simple for me was YouTube. The popular video sharing website, established in 2005, holds billions of vids free to view. From comedy to sports, YouTube caters for all and importantly for me it is the home to thousands of music videos. By searching bands well known alternative rock bands such as Arctic Monkeys and Fall Out Boy I was able to gather a solid list of conventions for music videos belonging to my genre therefore helping me to create a video which reflects a real life product. As well as this YouTube was also the platform I used to release my final music video to the world when I was happy with what I had.
Moving on to the actual creation of my media products, starting with my music video. The first technology I needed when creating a music video was a camera. My weapon of choice was the Sony Handy Cam which I borrowed from the College media department. Despite the camera boasting an 8.9 megapixel camera it was pretty basic on the interface and therefore really easy to use for first time users, like myself. A key function it did have was the ability to allow me to watch back the footage as soon as I'd filmed it. With this option available it made it a lot easier when it came to deciding whether to re-shoot certain shots whilst we was on location rather then having to leave and discover a shot required a re-shoot when we uploaded the footage onto a computer. As well as this, it's portability and small size also came as a positive as it was easy to carry around on long shooting days. Along with the digital camera I also borrowed an attachable tripod. With the tripod it opened up more options in terms of shot types allowing me to work with still shots and pan shots.
Sticking with the creation of my music video and another media technology which proved crucial was the Adobe Premierpro CS6 program which was available via college editing suites. Initially Premierpro was a whole new program I had never used before and so I struggled to make full use of it's abilities. However after being fortunate enough to gain some advice from one of the college experts I managed to get into a situation were I was really confident using the program to edit. Infact, on my final music video, I actually included advanced edits such are the stobe light effect, a rewind montage and a blurred vision edit to give the effect the character was intoxicated.
Moving onwards to the creation of my digipak and promo poster and we are introduced to another key Adobe media technology, this time Photoshop. Photoshop was an absolutely crucial program for the creation of both producs and, unlike Premierpro, I had previous experience in AS level and so was much more confident to act independently.
Monday 21 April 2014
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The song I chose to base my media products upon was 'Icarus' by alternative rock group Bastille. A main reason I chose this song was purely my love for the band. With such a highly fueled love for alternative rock Bastille are a band I listen to a lot, it was just a matter of chosing a particular one of their songs. It was a preference of mine to chose a song without an existing music video so that there would be no temptation to copy the original. Eventually, after juggling a number of possibilities i settled on 'Icarus'.
Firstly, I was required to follow formal conventions. The conventions which apply to all music videos (across all genres). However, before i could apply these conventions I had to find out what they were. After watching a large number of music videos it soon became clear they all followed a certain number of basic conventions. Therefore, in order to give my own video a feeling of realism I made sure I stuck to these vital guidelines. The conventions of form I discovered were as follows; editing linking with the beat and pace of the song, artist appearing in own video
With the song being categorised as alternative rock it was down to me on whether I would conform or challenge the conventions which have developed withing the genre. Largely, it was my intention to follow the conventions of alternative rock products and so I watched many videos belonging to the genre in order to develop a reasonable judgement of existing conventions. From doing so I was able to discover a whole range of alternative rock conventions which i would be able to relay onto my own music video. One of the most important decisions that must be made when planning a music video is which media concept it should follow. The choice between performance, narrative and abstract is one I struggled with at first but after watching the real live products I noticed that alternative rock focused largely on a mix of narrative and performance.
Another convention I was able to pick up was the negativity within the videos. This was represented through a number of things such as dark costumes, dark settings and usually serious narratives apose to the upbeat, fun narratives presented by Pop videos.
Another feature I took from this video was the texting. Within the video we see the character exchange a number of texts with a female. I feel this is an effective method as it adds an element of realism and allows the video to connect with the young target audience as the modern youth society are constantly on their mobiles. This is why I saw it appropriate to also include it in my video. Like in the 'Why'd you only call me when you're high?' video I also decided to include it at the beginning as it allows the narrative to be established.
I also stuck to the serious narrative convention as well a stick to the lyrics and editing to the beat. The story which I created is basically one of a boy who is jobless and slipping towards alcoholism. His girlfriend has left him due to his excessive drinking and on top of that his depression is now leading him towards drugs and suicidal thoughts. He's leaving a horrible life style and his constant thoughts of taking his own life are leaving him 'flying too close to the sun'. When he discovers his ex has infact left town and has no intention of returning into a relationship he returns to a cliff he'd earlier visited and jumps. Down he falls 'towards an early grave'. And we are shown a flashback of what has lead him to taking his life. The subject I have chosen to base my video on is a serious topic, alcoholism. I have created a short story to show the youth what kinds of mental states excessive drinking can lead to in a hope to deter all viewers from making a similar mistake.
As well as researching into music videos I also looked at a number of alternative rock digipaks and promotional posters. Largely I found these to be relatively simplified i.e. not much text and dull colours and so this is something i wanted to reflect onto my own products.
Slightly against conventions though, i opted to use an alternative model who wasn't the artist themselves but instead the main character within the music video. Largely, if a person is used on the front of a digipak it will be the artist however, the fact I'd followed all other conventions meant I needed something to stand out from the rest and with the artist name in big accross text the centre of the cover I felt there was enough self promotion to allow for an alternative picture. I also deemed it more appropriate to use an image linking to the narrative of the video to enable the seriousness of the song to really hit home for the audience and draw further attention to the hidden meaning of the lyrics. Despite most alternative rock bands using themselves on the front of the digipak's I was able to draw insperation from various acceptions such as Fall out Boy who, like me, used random model to promote their album.
Firstly, I was required to follow formal conventions. The conventions which apply to all music videos (across all genres). However, before i could apply these conventions I had to find out what they were. After watching a large number of music videos it soon became clear they all followed a certain number of basic conventions. Therefore, in order to give my own video a feeling of realism I made sure I stuck to these vital guidelines. The conventions of form I discovered were as follows; editing linking with the beat and pace of the song, artist appearing in own video
With the song being categorised as alternative rock it was down to me on whether I would conform or challenge the conventions which have developed withing the genre. Largely, it was my intention to follow the conventions of alternative rock products and so I watched many videos belonging to the genre in order to develop a reasonable judgement of existing conventions. From doing so I was able to discover a whole range of alternative rock conventions which i would be able to relay onto my own music video. One of the most important decisions that must be made when planning a music video is which media concept it should follow. The choice between performance, narrative and abstract is one I struggled with at first but after watching the real live products I noticed that alternative rock focused largely on a mix of narrative and performance.
Another convention I was able to pick up was the negativity within the videos. This was represented through a number of things such as dark costumes, dark settings and usually serious narratives apose to the upbeat, fun narratives presented by Pop videos.
Another feature I took from this video was the texting. Within the video we see the character exchange a number of texts with a female. I feel this is an effective method as it adds an element of realism and allows the video to connect with the young target audience as the modern youth society are constantly on their mobiles. This is why I saw it appropriate to also include it in my video. Like in the 'Why'd you only call me when you're high?' video I also decided to include it at the beginning as it allows the narrative to be established.
I also stuck to the serious narrative convention as well a stick to the lyrics and editing to the beat. The story which I created is basically one of a boy who is jobless and slipping towards alcoholism. His girlfriend has left him due to his excessive drinking and on top of that his depression is now leading him towards drugs and suicidal thoughts. He's leaving a horrible life style and his constant thoughts of taking his own life are leaving him 'flying too close to the sun'. When he discovers his ex has infact left town and has no intention of returning into a relationship he returns to a cliff he'd earlier visited and jumps. Down he falls 'towards an early grave'. And we are shown a flashback of what has lead him to taking his life. The subject I have chosen to base my video on is a serious topic, alcoholism. I have created a short story to show the youth what kinds of mental states excessive drinking can lead to in a hope to deter all viewers from making a similar mistake.
As well as researching into music videos I also looked at a number of alternative rock digipaks and promotional posters. Largely I found these to be relatively simplified i.e. not much text and dull colours and so this is something i wanted to reflect onto my own products.
Slightly against conventions though, i opted to use an alternative model who wasn't the artist themselves but instead the main character within the music video. Largely, if a person is used on the front of a digipak it will be the artist however, the fact I'd followed all other conventions meant I needed something to stand out from the rest and with the artist name in big accross text the centre of the cover I felt there was enough self promotion to allow for an alternative picture. I also deemed it more appropriate to use an image linking to the narrative of the video to enable the seriousness of the song to really hit home for the audience and draw further attention to the hidden meaning of the lyrics. Despite most alternative rock bands using themselves on the front of the digipak's I was able to draw insperation from various acceptions such as Fall out Boy who, like me, used random model to promote their album.
Tuesday 8 April 2014
Thursday 13 March 2014
Images taken from first filming day
The above are images which I took on my first day of filming. The images were taken with the intention of taking form of my digipak and promo poster. I did plan to take some shots on the same location in the day time but unfortunately, up to this point, I have been unable to meet with the model during the daytime. However, this is a scene I am hoping to film further during my music video and so will hopefully be able to take some daytime shots at some point in the near future.
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